Monarchy & The Royal Family of Coeurleon
From SCJU Wiki
Monarchy of Cœurléon is a constitutional one in nature. The hereditary monarch, presently Louis X, is the head of state and is officially called King of Cœurléon (French: Roi de Cœurléon; Spanish: Rey de Cœurléon). He and his immediate family – which make up the Royal Family of Cœurléon – undertake various official, eremonial and representational duties.
Contents |
Origin
Since the 1640s, the rulers of Cœurléon have belonged to the House of Bourbon-Condé. Prior to that the House of Montbeau were the first rulers of the principality, county and barony. The current monarch is a direct descendant of Simon de Montbeau, Baron of Cailoux.
Title
The proper title of the Cœurléonean monarch is King of Cœurléon. To reflect the diversity of the nation’s people, the king and members of the royal family have used their names in French and Spanish (for example, the present king is styled Louis X in French and Luiz X in Spanish).
Roles & Responsibilities
The Cœurléonean monarchy combines several public and political missions. As head of State, the king symbolizes and maintains the feeling of national unity by representing the country in public function and international meetings. The monarch also has a number of responsibilities in the process of the formation of the Government. Upon the conclusion of elections in the Assembly, the monarch receives the prime minister-elect where the King gives the mandate to the minister to form a Government (officially, His Royal & Serene Majesty’s Government).
The Cœurléonean Consitution entrusts the monarch with executive powers. The monarch has the power to appoint and dismiss ministers, may suspend session of either House in Parliament, implements laws passed by Parliament and handles (indirectly) foreign relations. Though he gives assent to bills, he is considered inviolable as ministers also put their signatures to bills thus giving them responsibility.
The king receives the prime minister at the Chateau Royale de Cœurléon at least once a week – traditionally on Thursdays, as the king often retires to one of his weekend residences that evening – and calls on other government ministers to discuss political matters. During these meetings the king has the right to be informed of bills and government policies, to advise and to warn the government on any matter. The king may also hold meetings with members of any other party in the government.
The monarch is the Commander-in-Chief of the Cœurléonean Royal Armed Forces and makes appointments to higher officer positions; nominees list is created by the Ministry of Defence.
King Louis X is also Supreme Head of the Church of Cœurléon. Since the late 1970s the king has reverted the daily activities of the Church to the Archbishop of Cœurléon. All members of the Royal Family and successors to the throne must be members of the church.
Lastly, the monarch is also one of the components of the legislative branch, together with the National Assembly and the Chamber of Peers. All laws passed by Parliament must be signed and promulgated by the monarch.
Inviolability
The Cœurléonean Constitution states the King cannot be prosecuted, arrested or convicted of crimes, that he cannot be summoned to appear before a civil court and that he is not accountable to Parliament.
Royal Household
The King’s Household consists of seven department and the Household Committee, which consists of the leaders of the department. Each head of a department or office is responsible for his jurisdiction and is accoutnable to the King.
The following departments currently make up the King’s Household:
King’s Cabinet
The Royal Purse
Department for Foreign Relations
Department for Protocol of the Court
Department of Petitions
Department for Economic, Social and Cultural Affairs
Department of Royal Travel and Protection
The King’s Chief of Cabinet is responsible for dealing with political and administrative matters and for maintaining the relations with the governmetn and the political, trade union and industrial circles. She assists the King in keeping track of the poltiical current affairs and informs the King of the national political, eonomic and social life. She proposes and prepares the King’s political audiences, assists the King in preparing speeches and informs the King about developments in international poltiics. The Chief of Cabinet is assisted by the Deputy Chief of Cabinet, Legal Counsel, Press and Master Secretaries; the master secretary handles all archival records. The incumbent Chief of Cabinet is Josephine Strobes.
The King’s Aides-de-Camp are senior royals, officers or generals, currently thirteen, chosen by the monarch and charged with carrying out certain tasks on his behalf, such as representing him at events or ceremonies he is unable to attend. The King’s Equerries are young officers chosen by the monarch who take turns at working full-time for the King for a whole year. The King’s Equerry is at the service of the monarch 24 hours a day. He prepares the King’s activities, informs him about all the aspects that may be important to him and tries to facilitate his task by providing various services. It is in principle the King’s Equerry who receives his visitors and guests, and who announces them. The Equerry also accompanies the King during his trips, both at home and abroad, except for certain activities of a strictly private nature. He is always on duty wherever the King’s travels to between his official residences.
The Intendant of the Royal Purse is responsible for managing the material, financial and human resources of the King’s Household and works in cooridnation with the Keeper of the Purses. He is assisted by the Commandant of the Royal Palaces, the Deputy Treasurer of the King’s Civil List and the Civil List Advisor. The Intendant also administrates the King’s hunting rights. The Commandant of the Royal Palaces is mainly in charge, in close cooperation with the Chief of Protocol, of the logistic support of activities and the maintenance and cleaning of the Palaces and Public Estates. He is also Director of the Royal Hunts.
The Chief of Protocol of the Court heads the Department of the Protocol of the Court and is charged with organizing and carrying out the public engagements of the King and the Queen, such as audiences, receptions and official meals at the Palace, as well as formal acitivites outside of the Palace. He is assisted by the Queen’s Secertary, who is mainly responsible for proposing and preparing the Quee’'s audiences and visits.
The Head of the Department for Economic, Social and Cultural Affairs advises the King in the economic, social and cultural fields. He is also responsibel for providing coorindation between the various Households and Services and for organziing and minuting of the Household Committee. The Head of the Department for Foreign Relations informs the King of developments in international policy, assists the King from a diplomatic viewpoint on royal visits abroad and prepares the King’s audiences in the international field. He is also responsible for maintaining contacts with foreign diplomatic missions. The Ehad of the Department of Petitions is charged with processing petitions and requests for social aid addressed the King, Queen or other members of the Royal Family. He is also responsible for the analysis and coorination of royal favours and actiivites relating to hubilees, and advises the King in the fields for which he is responsible.
The Head of the Department for Royal Travel and Protection is responsible coordinating travel plans and itinerary for the King, Queen and other members of the Royal Family as well as their security detail while at home. For the personal protection of the King and Royal Family, as well as for the surveillance of the royal estates, the National Police Agency and the Crown Security Service provides a Security Detail to the Royal Palace.
There is also a Household for Her Royal & Serene Majesty the Queen; beginning in November, Her Royal & Serene Highness the Princess Royal is expected to have a household established in December, 2009. The other members of the Royal Family have a Service at their disposal.
Members of the Cœurléonean Royal Family
Since the 2009 amendment of the Royal Titles & Claimant Act (1901) the monarch and his spouse are styled Royal & Serene Majesty (R&SM), while members of the Royal Family are styled Royal & Serene Highness (R&SH). The King is also head of the House of Bourbon-Condé, and is thus titled Prince of Condé. According to the Act, the royal family includes the monarch, the spouse of the reigning monarch, surviving spouses of a deceased monarch, the children, male-line grandchildren, brothers, sisters and cousins of the reigning monarch, as well as their spouses. However, the act gives the monarch the right to extend such membership to other relatives of the reigning monarch with legislative consent.
Those who do not hold a royal or princely rank - namely, those who are part of the Royal House but not official members of the Royal Family - are titled Monseigneur (Madame, as wives of Monseigneurs) and Mademoiselle de Bourbon-Condé.
The current members are:
HR&SM The King
HR&SH The Duc de Bon (brother of the King) & HR&SH The Duchesse de Bon
TR&SH Prince and Princess Louis Rainier Albert of Bon (male-line grandson of the King Louis IX)
HR&SH Princess Henrietta Marie of Bon (male-line granddaughter of King Louis IX)
HR&SH The Duc de Pombrais (brother of the King) & HR&SH The Duchesse de Pombrais
HR&SH Princess Anne Sophie of Pombrais (male-line granddaughter of King Louis IX)
HR&SH The Princess Eugenie of Saxe-Thurnburg (sister of the King)
Line of Succession
1. The Princess Royal
2. The Duc de Bon
3. Prince Louis Rainier Albert of Bon
4. Monseigneur Rainier de Bourbon-Condé
5. Monseigneur Paul de Bourbon-Condé
6. Madameoiselle Cordelia de Bourbon-Condé
7. Princess Henrietta Marie of Bon, marquise of Evreux
8. Jean-Amadeus, vicomte de Vaux-le-Evreux
9. Madameoiselle Marie Joanna de Evreux
10. The Duc de Pombrais
11. Princess Anne Sophie of Pombrais
12. Phillip Greyson
13. Charles Greyson
14. Richard Greyson
15. Sophie Greyson
16. The Princess Eugenie of Saxe-Thurnburg
17. Hereditary Prince Charles Alexander of Saxe-Thurnburg
18. Prince Wilhelm Henry of Saxe-Thurnburg
19. Prince Ludwig of Saxe-Thurnburg
20. Princess Alexandra Eugenia of Saxe-Thurnburg
Finances & Residences
The King, Queen and other members of the Royal Family who take on official duties are granted a payment from the Civil List, the Public Purse’s funds for the official duties of the Monarchy. With the exception of the King, Queen and Princess Royal, funds are repaid to the Government from the Royal Purse, the personal assets of the monarch. Land Grants, a subsection of the civil list and funded through the Ministry of Culture & Arts (Public Estates Trust), are funds used to pay for the upkeep of Royal Palace and Public Estates, all of which are in the care of the nation. With the exception of the Palais Royale, official residences are given 80 percent of their funding while the monarch pays for the remainder of the costs.
Appanages are given to non-official members of the family from the Royal Purse.
Private sources of income include stock & business investments (The Royal Family is the majority stockholder of the Royal Bank of Cœurléon), properties, and the royal art collection. All income are subject to taxes.
Civil List
2009: C£32.9 mn
2008: C£39.5 mn
2007: C£41.5 mn
Appanages
2009: C£.8 mn
2008: C£1.3 mn
2007: C£2.5 mn
Residences
Palais Royale de Cœurléon, Cite Royale de Cailoux – Official residence of the King.
Chateau Royale de Saint-Simon, Perpignan – Royal Palace; often used as the king’s weekend retreat
Chateau de Bourbon-Condé, Leauvon – Private residence of the Royal Family.
Chateau de Montbeau, Montbeau – Official residence of the Duc and Duchesse de Pombrais
Chateau de Maux, Maux – Official residence of the Duc and Duchesse de Bon